Chapter Text
Kaito doesn’t know when, but he fell asleep at one point, or maybe he just passed out.
When Kaito opens his eyes he is greeted with an unfamiliar ceiling decorated with pipes. He jerks into a sitting position before his memory returns. The memories of the outside world hit him like a punch in the gut. Everything is gone. He takes a few deep breaths, he can’t focus on that right now. There’s more pressing matters at hand that should take his attention rather than wallowing in his own sorrows.
The first thing Kaito does is try and see if he can fit through the window. About ten seconds after a poorly thought out idea, he finds that, no he cannot fit anything past his head. Without thinking he yells out the window.
“Hey! Is anyone out there?”
He gets no response other than the dull footsteps of the Exisals in the distance. He sits himself back down onto the ground and doesn’t let himself be too disappointed. He doesn’t know what time it is, but he doubts it’s nighttime yet. He and the others just went to see the outside world this morning. He couldn’t have been asleep for that long. Even so, no matter how short it has been, he’s already wasted enough time here. He wants nothing more than to just reassure his sidekicks that everything will be okay.
They have no idea what has happened to him or if he’s alright. He curses. He’s supposed to be the hero of the story, the one the rest of them can count on and leave their worries with. He isn’t supposed to add to their worries, not at a time like this or ever.
He continues to look throughout the room for anything to aid in escape. He even looks in the toilet and despite looking super high-tech, the toilet proves to be just that. A toilet.
He sits on the ground cross-legged in a huff. He swears as soon as he sees that stupid shit again he’s going to deck him. Just the thought gives him some peace. Although, trying to punch the short boy is how he got into this mess in the first place. He drums his fingers on his knee. He should probably set aside punching for now, it would only cause regret later
He lies down on his back and closes his eyes. He doesn’t have time to be stuck here. He’s Kaito Momota! Luminary of the Stars! Everyone is relying on him. Especially his sidekicks. They were devastated by the sight of the outside world. They all looked so hopeless. A mixture of pain, confusion and loss evident through all of them. Something he understood all too well. He didn’t help them at all by charging ahead. In retrospect, it was a pretty idiotic move but he couldn’t cope with the idea that they really were trapped here forever. And he couldn’t just break down when so many people were relying on him.
He had been so afraid of the idea of being trapped in this school forever, and now his worst fear is reality. He wanted to punch something, just to get rid of the horrible feeling in his chest.
That doesn’t matter now, he just has to move forward from here on out and escape the mastermind’s imprisonment. The whole thing about the outside world is probably just another elaborate lie. Saihara’s probably already seen through his lies, he and Harumaki wouldn’t have given up yet. They’re probably coming up with a way to help him escape right now. They were counting on him to be strong, they were his sidekicks and he promised to always be there for them. Even if the world isn’t how they remembered it to be, it’s not over yet, they still have to believe in the future. If not, what else do they have?
Kaito is so caught up in his own thoughts that he doesn’t realize he’s not alone until he feels something hit him in the chest. He opens his eyes in surprise to see the object that hit him is a filled plastic bag. Ouma had apparently unlocked the door, entered, walked practically next to him and Kaito didn’t notice until he literally dropped something on him. Ouma is just standing over him staring, uncharacteristically silent and expressionless. He is waiting for Kaito to do something.
Kaito doesn’t disappoint. In a swell of rage he swings his arm to trip the bastard, to which Ouma simply hops back out of his reach, obviously expecting something like this.
A smile adorns his face, “Aw Momota-chan, I thought after your three day nap you’d be happy to see someone, even me!” Kaito’s blood freezes, he’d been unconscious for three days?
Ouma laughs happily in response to his mortified face, “Oops, that was a lie! It’s only been a couple of hours, or has it? Anyways I brought you some stuff. Don’t worry! I put needles inside everything! Just for you!”
Kaito’s anger returns, he starts getting up from the floor “Shut the hell up! Why would I accept anything from you?”
Ouma simply blinks, still grinning “Are you really that stupid to refuse something you didn’t even look at?” Ouma’s expression shifts to somewhere between bored and annoyed, “I didn’t realize you had such a big ego to go with that itty-bitty brain of yours.” Ouma takes a couple steps backwards toward the door.
“I don’t care what someone like you thinks!” he spits the words with hate.
Ouma sighs, “I knew you were boring, but I didn’t realize you were this predictable. I have sooo many more important things to do rather then waste my time on you.” he sounds more tired than anything, “Sweet dreams space cowboy.” Ouma quickly slips through the door just as Kaito lunges for him. As he reaches for the doorknob he hears the muffled sound of a lock sliding into place.
It doesn’t deter Kaito. Only after jiggling the doorknob for a solid ten seconds does he gives up. A huff of defeat and he retreats back towards the center of the room. The bag Ouma threw at him is still untouched on the ground.
With nothing better to do, Kaito picks up the ‘gift’ Ouma left him. He looks inside the bag. Inside is a sealed water bottle, and what appears to be a fair sized lunch box. He’s half-convinced whatever’s going to be inside the lunchbox is some jack-in-the-box type shit or just eight raw onions, which he would have no choice to eat. When he opens the lid nothing splatters all over his face, instead, he sees food. It’s much better than he expected. Inside is an overabundance of PB&J sandwiches, and two cans of soda. The sandwiches don’t look especially amazing or anything, but the fact they don’t look that nice implies Ouma was the one to make them. His stomach grumbles. After checking to make sure there really weren’t any needles hidden in his food, he put aside his reservations and began eating.
He takes a bite of the sandwich. While just about everything Ouma did aggravated him in some shape and form, he had believed that there was some good in him- even if he got on every last one of Kaito’s nerves at times. It’s just the shift in Ouma’s personality felt too sudden, uncomfortably so. Not so much of a reveal, but more like a breaking point.
He huffs again in annoyance and cracks open the soda can. He stares at the door. It’s stupid to think that the door would suddenly be unlocked, but its not like there’s much else he can do. He cautiously tip-toes toward the door. It has been a few minutes since Ouma left the room and he hasn’t heard anything on the other side of the door since. He grips the doorknob and turns it, only to find it is locked, just like before. He jiggles it a couple more times for good measure. It’s not going to budge anytime soon. He doesn’t even know why he tried. Almost on cue he hears giggling from the other side of the door.
“Sorry Momota-chan! As much as I would love to see your face, I just can’t seem to figure out how this lock works. But you can keep me company while I try to figure it out!”
Kaito groans. Even the unnerving quiet would be better than listening to Ouma, “Why would I want to keep my tormentor company?”
Ouma hums in thought for a second, “On second thought, you’re too predictable to be any fun!” he sighs, “I wish Saihara-chan was here instead, at least he’s not an idiot.”
“Hey! Don’t call me an idiot!”
“That’s exactly what I’m talking about. You regurgitate the same lines all the time, idiot.” Kaito hears the other huff from the other side of the door, “Ugh, I don’t think I can listen to you any longer, I’m leaving.”
“Good riddance!” Kaito shouts. There’s no response.
He grumbles and sets himself down onto the floor. Kaito supposes it’s a fair bit into the night, but he can’t be sure. He’s not tired and the cold floor isn’t exactly the most inviting, but preserving strength and sleeping is really all he can do at this point. He takes off his jacket and puts it on the floor before lying down on it. A minimal improvement, but still better nonetheless.
Kaito sighs, “What are you going to do now?” he mumbles to himself.
He speaks for both being confined to a bathroom and about escaping the school. He doesn’t want to believe the outside world is truly gone. Ouma is a liar, and a fantastic one at that. If anyone would be able to make the most unrealistic lie believable, it would be him. The thought gives him unexpected comfort. He’ll be able to escape with the others and they’ll find out what is a lie and what is the truth.
He hopes Harumaki’s doing alright. The last time he saw her, she looked fully prepared to take on any consequence in order to save him. He couldn’t see too well from his position, but he thinks she was on the verge of crying. His capture didn’t help her to cope with the outside world. He told her that when they left the school he would help her to live a different life than the one she was forced into. He promised that she would have a hope upon leaving the school. Then that was taken away from her upon seeing the outside world. Kaito getting captured amplified all that despair and pain, to the point that Saihara was the one who had to calm her down.
Saihara. How is Saihara doing? If Harumaki was at her breaking point then Saihara couldn’t be far off either. He has a tendency to blame himself even when it’s very obvious it’s not his fault. Fuck, what if he is blaming himself for Kaito’s own stupidity in getting captured? He curses, knowing Saihara, it’s very probable. That’s the last thing Saihara needs- guilt on top of utter hopelessness. And Kaito’s not even there to tell him to square up and move on.
Man, what type of pathetic hero was he?
It’s not much longer before he drifts into a dreamless sleep. When he next awakens, it’s because his body decides to start hacking up his lungs.
It jolts him right out of his relaxed stupor and he’s already sitting up and covering his mouth with his hand. It isn’t surprising when he pulls his hand back to see it’s covered in blood. He quickly moves over to the toilet. If he has to stay in this room, he would rather not have a stain of blood on the floor to remind him that he’s dying. No. Not dying. He’s just not healthy. He just needs to stay healthy so that he can fulfill his dreams of space when they leave. He needs to be healthy not just for himself but for his sidekicks. They have so many burdens on their shoulders and he needs to help them lift their burdens, not add to them.
It is an agonizing few minutes. And he wonders if he’ll ever stop coughing. All he can taste is the sickeningly metal taste of his own blood, something that always make him want to vomit. His head starts to throb in pain, only being amplified with every cough. Sparks dance across his vision but he refuses to pass out from blood loss and choke on his own blood like an alcoholic.
The toilet’s water is completely opaque when he finally stops coughing. He tries to catch his breath, and ignore the deep pain in his gut. It has never been this bad before, he’s never been coughing for more than a minute at a time, or this much. The last time there was this much blood was after Gonta’s execution, right in front of everyone. He can’t believe he let his friends see this side of him. It went down exactly as he feared, no matter how much he tried to shrug it off, more blood would interrupt him. The last thing they needed after an execution was evidence there would be another friend dead soon. It is only because his sidekicks have so much faith in him that they trusted when he said it was just temporary. Or at the very least, they didn’t push the topic afterwords. The only problem is that if he gets caught coughing up blood again, he’ll have to tell them. And he couldn’t let that happen. He couldn’t put that burden on their shoulders. Not just Harumaki and Saihara, but all of his classmates. It is his job to be the brazen optimist after all.
He cleans the blood staining his face and hands with the rest of the water bottle given to him. He wipes down drops on the floor and on the edges of the toilet with toilet paper and flushes it all away. In a matter of minutes the room looks just like it did when he first awoke.
He settles himself back down onto his jacket and tries to get comfortable, ignoring the pain and the drops of blood that fell onto the jacket’s galactic pattern when he started coughing.
The next time he wakes is of his own accord. He doesn’t see any blood on the floor or on the toilet. The bloody fit is nothing more than a dream. He is going to be alright, it doesn’t matter that the pain in his body is worse than ever. He gets up from his jacket and stretches. He’s fine. He shrugs the jacket on in a quick motion, not looking at it, not wanting to see the bloody drops he knew would be there. If he never sees it, he can still try to convince himself it was all a dream.
He spots more sandwiches stacked on top of the lunchbox next to more water bottles, noticeably closer to the door. He is all too glad to focus on something else other than his nightmare.
He approaches the food. The sandwiches are PB&J again. He groans. He doesn’t have any personal grudges against peanut butter sandwiches- more the opposite honestly- but he suspects that his future meals will look suspiciously similar to this one. He can appreciate a less-than-average PB&J sandwich, but even he has limits.
Belatedly he realizes that in order for there to be new supplies in the room, Ouma had to have been in and out while he was sleeping. It’s disturbing how quietly the Supreme Leader could move. Either that or Kaito just slept like a rock.
Regardless, he might as well eat, even if he has no idea what time it is. He could be eating a 4am sandwich but at this point he couldn’t really bother caring about it. Halfway through eating the sandwich, he realizes he’s not really hungry. He stuffs the rest of the sandwich in his jacket pocket, not thinking about how the peanut butter would smear the pockets.
When he pockets the sandwich, he notices an oddity. The door isn’t shut all the way. Ouma left it slightly agape. He gingerly steps over to the door, wondering if maybe this is his chance to escape.
He grips the doorknob and finds that it twists It really is unlocked. Odd, he doubted Ouma would overlook something as simple as this, he is anything but careless.
He takes a breath, and pushes it open as slow as he can. Except it doesn’t open. The door just rattles quietly. He spots the cause of noise and sees a chain sliding lock keeping it shut. Anger brews in Kaito, of course Ouma would do this. Give him a bit of hope before snatching it away. The door is open just wide enough to peek through the gap. He sees Ouma standing on the platform of the press control panel. Staring directly at him.
Even from this distance he can see Ouma’s face crack into a wide grin. Ouma hops down the stairs of the press control panel and bounds towards him. Ouma is right in front of the door now, standing so Kaito can see him through the crack, “Momota-chan, you’re alive! Here I thought you just kicked the bucket and left me all by myself.” he frowns before smiling again, “Just kidding! That was a lie, only the good die young.” the smile and sparkle in his eyes are so well placed it looks real.
“Quit screwing around and tell me why the hell are you’re keeping me here!”
The grin on his face changes to a pout, “Why? I thought it was obvious! I’ve been feeling soooo lonely since nobody wants to spend time with me.” he crosses his arms like a child throwing a tantrum, “That’s why I thought it’d be better to bring someone here instead.”
Kaito doesn’t know why he thought he could ask a question and get an answer. Ouma did as he pleases, and he obviously enjoys watching other people struggle to keep up with him.
“We both know that’s a lie! You’re probably keeping me here for some twisted purpose. I just don’t know what yet.” his voice lowers into a growl. There’s so many things he could say, he had so many paths, but would any of them lead him elsewhere?
Ouma slumps over, crocodile tears glistening his eyes, “You don’t believe me? I get lonely too! I thought you were the one who wanted to believe in everyone. B-b-but you won’t believe me. You’re s-so cruel! You’d believe in killer girl over meeeee!!” Ouma starts bawling with heavily exaggerated sobs.
The conversation is running in circles, “Cruel? How can you say that when you’re the one who let this happen?” a loud thud echoes as Kaito bangs his hand against the chained door, Ouma stops his tears. “You treat our lives, my friends lives as toys of some twisted game! You sacrificed Gonta and Iruma just so you could live and continue to torment us. Not only them, you ravaged Akamatsu’s and Tojo’s psyche to the point of murder. You took enjoyment in everyone’s suffering you sick freak!” Ouma hasn’t moved from his spot.
Ouma’s smile reappears, brighter and more crazed than before, “Ding ding! That’s right! They were so entertaining! Noble deaths willing to sacrifice another’s life! There’s something especially captivating about that. And then letting Gonta take the blow, that was fun! Then I decided to have the grand finale!”
It is creepy how he says it. Detached, like they weren’t alive and human. Kaito is leaning against the door, forehead pressed in the small gap. Normally at this point Kaito would have just tried to ram the door down- the chain doesn’t look strong. But this isn’t normal, his energy levels are at record-breaking lows. While he tries to convince himself it’s simply emotional exhaustion, he knows his sickness is getting worse.
No. He’s not getting worse. He’s fine. Suddenly it doesn’t matter that all his body wants to do is collapse. Almost to prove it to himself, he sticks his arm through the narrow gap and manages to get a grip on Ouma’s scarf. To Ouma’s credit, despite being cornered, he doesn’t react the slightest. In fact, despite the circumstances, he just starts giggling.
“Oops! I lied again!”
Kaito’s about to respond ‘No shit sherlock.’ but he bites the words down. Despite how flippantly Ouma says it, at this distance, he can see circles under his eyes. How long have they been there?
When Kaito doesn’t say anything, Ouma continues,
“’What did I lie about’ you ask? Well! Before you punch me again, you should know I lied about being the mastermind!”
Kaito can’t help it, he guffaws, “The fuck, you expect me to believe that with no explanation?” even as he says it his mind is already starting to question how much truth there is to his words.
Ouma hums and tugs a loose strand of hair, “If you did, you would be dumber than I thought.” he shuts his eyes, smile growing, “Just listen. I know it’s hard for you to listen to something other than your own voice but just try and don’t interrupt until-”
“Just get to the point.” Kaito’s tired, he’s tired and wants answers.
Surprisingly, all Ouma does is rolls his eyes at him, “This killing spree is just a game. I took the role of mastermind to win. Simple as that.”
“You think I’m just going to believe such a convenient lie?”
“See, it’s because I’m so smart that this conversation is happening. Without proper preparation that would’ve been the exact problem. Nobody would take me seriously. After the virtual world fiasco all of you would be more than happy to blame me. When I showed you the outside world and told you I’m the mastermind everything fell into place. I’m the winner!” Ouma’s grinning again, all too smug for Kaito’s taste.
Kaito waits for Ouma to elaborate further. He doesn’t. He’s just staring at Kaito, smile still in place, waiting for him to say something in response to his victory.
Slowly, words form, “So in the end you only wanted to win, you never gave a shit about anyone other than yourself.” he growls. If Ouma is telling the truth, it still doesn’t change much. It just means they still have another mastermind to deal with.
Ouma giggles, “Who knows? It’s all up to your own interpretation. I could be lying after all.” he says it in a sing-song voice.
The only response Kaito can do is shake Ouma with his one hand, “Are you happy now? Are you happy that you won?” questions never get him anywhere and yet Kaito still asks.
Ouma’s face scrunches up in a yawn, seemingly unaffected, “I know it’s hard, but can you at least try to think before you talk? It’s kinda like talking to a wall.”
Kaito lets go of Ouma’s scarf and pushes him away. Ouma stumbles a bit before easily catching his balance again. It’s clear to Kaito that he’s not going to open up. He just can’t believe anyone would willingly aim for this twisted goal. Ouma is always hiding, he’s always hiding through his lies. He can’t believe someone is really this twisted. Because of that he can’t let this go. If Ouma’s going to be stubborn then so will he.
“Like hell you’re happy! Look at where you are. How could you possibly be happy with this? You win some stupid game but what does that win you when you’re all alone in a cold hangar with nobody?” his eyes lock directly with the Supreme Leader.
Kaito is still angry as all hell at Ouma. He knows that he could never forget what Ouma’s done. Even so, he’s a stubborn optimist if nothing else. There’s something hopeful in him that wants to reach out. And in the moment it takes for Ouma to respond, he looks.
He searches Ouma’s expression for... something. A look of regret. A look of surprise. Of thought. Even just a moment of blankness. Just something to prove that there is something he can use to believe Ouma is lying about using them only to win a game. Something to see that Ouma isn’t so far gone that even Kaito can’t reach him.
He sees nothing.
Ouma’s smile doesn’t faze or freeze in the slightest, and the only change in emotion is to snicker in response, “Aw Momota-chan. You might not be smart but you’re not nobody.”
It takes Kaito longer to respond, to actually process the insult, “You know what I meant!” he knows Ouma’s just trying to rile him up, but he can’t help but be affected.
“Yup I do! And I say you’re being self-depreciating!” he’s smiling. He’s enjoying this.
“No I’m not! Stop being stubborn!” how could he act like this, like nothing has happened?
“Uh yeah you are. Come onnn, I am so not in the mood for this. Do you even know what time it is?”
“That doesn’t matter!” it’s not what’s important.
“It’s time for good little space boys to be quiet and not question things they don’t understand!” there’s an edge to Ouma’s voice. Said teasingly yet sending a clear message of ‘don’t push it.’
Kaito understands his message, and immediately does the opposite.
“I’m not shutting up until you tell me what the hell it is you wanted to accomplish with this!” Kaito is shouting at this point. He’s getting somewhere now. He has to push this, because Ouma just proved there is something underneath his lies.
It takes a few seconds before Ouma responds, “...Hmm, even after spending so much time with you, you really are just boring.” there’s no energy to his words. Suddenly the circles under his eyes are so clear Kaito doesn’t know how he missed them before.
“You’re deflecting! There’s more to this than you’re telling me. You’re just naive enough to believe you can’t trust anyone!”
“Boring, boring, boring!” aggravation flickers in Ouma’s features, before quickly painted over by a smile, “I should’ve known nothing would seem nearly as fun after such a fun killing game. But to see that one of my participants can so easily forget it all! Maybe I should’ve made it more entertaining.” his expression grows more warped and his smile cuts into his cheeks.
The expression is so drained of humanity Kaito can’t help but think it’s practiced. He can’t help but feel he’s on the edge of uncovering something huge. He just needs to push more.
“Our lives aren’t entertainment! You’re the stupid one if you expect me to believe that you believe that!” Kaito says it without really thinking, but something shifts in Ouma.
Ouma’s smile drops, “I really can’t stand talking to someone like you. You can never get it through your thick skull that what you see is the truth. I may be a liar but at least I don’t delude myself into a false hope.” Ouma quickly turns his back to him and begins to walk away.
No. Kaito can’t let Ouma can’t walk away now. He feels he’s on the brink of finally reaching past his mask. He doesn’t know why he thinks it’s working now. He’s tried to reach out so many times before and it never worked. But it doesn’t matter as to why. He just knows he can’t let Ouma walk away.
“Hey! You can’t just walk away now, get back over here! Ouma!” Ouma doesn’t show any sign of hearing him. He just continues walking towards the hangar doors.
Kaito curses under his breath. Ouma’s going to leave- run away- before Kaito can get through to him. He shoves his hands into his pockets in frustration. He feels something sticky in his left pocket. Kaito’s not really sure why he did what he did next. He really wasn’t thinking and was honestly just desperate. But his fist closed around a pocketed peanut butter sandwich.
He throws the half-eaten sandwich at Ouma’s back. Kaito’s not really sure what he thought it would accomplish, he really wasn’t thinking, he just acted on an impulse. It is pure luck that the sandwich connects to its target. What he didn’t expect was Ouma to almost fall out of pure surprise. He swings his arms to regain his balance, and something pink and circular falls from Ouma’s jacket while he stumbles. It falls onto the floor with a clatter. Kaito gets a good look- it’s an electrobomb- before it explodes. A loud bang echoes throughout the room.
Ouma turns just in time to see the electrobomb explode. His face darkens, “Shit!” his eyes quickly scan the ground to find what Kaito threw at him. He doesn’t look any happier when he sees the half-eaten sandwich,
“Dammit not yet!” Ouma starts to look panicked and takes in a fistful of his own hair. He’s taking in deep breaths, trying to calm down. Kaito’s goal may have been to get emotion out of Ouma, but this isn’t exactly what he wanted to happen. Ouma looks to be on the edge of a breakdown.
Kaito’s ideals dictate that he try to console someone when in distress, even if it’s Ouma, “You can’t do anything while you’re panicked, calm down and breathe.” he tries to lower his voice below shouting, but it’s not easy when trying to be heard from halfway across the hangar through a door gap. It doesn’t matter. Ouma obviously isn’t listening. His face is buried in his hands and he’s not responding.
Just as Kaito’s about to call out to him again, Ouma’s hands lower to reveal a smile,
“Aw, did you think you finally won against the big bad guy Momota-chan? Too bad, I have plenty of those bombs lying around,” he picks up the ruined sandwich, “but I can only keep feeding you for so long. If I were you, I wouldn’t test my patience.”
Kaito isn’t getting through to him. Ouma is just as stubborn as he is, with a firm belief in logic over emotion. And he shows no signs of letting go of that mask.
There were two clear paths Kaito could take here. He could choose what Ouma seems to want him to do, to resist the villain of the story and fight for his friends, to continue the roles they were meant to play.
Or he could keep pushing. He could keep pushing and try to get through to him. He could extend a hand to the lion and keep it there until he either lost his hand or gained his trust. Kaito can get out of here by either fighting or befriending Ouma. If he’s wrong about Ouma, about him hiding a humane side, then he can always resort back to fighting.
Kaito slams against the door again, the chain rattles, “I’ll test your patience as much as I please, you’re just lying anyways!”
Ouma laughs airily, “Oh we’ll see about that.” he turns his back to Kaito, sitting down on the floor and starts to hum to himself. Presumably to drown out the sound of Kaito’s voice.
Kaito opens his mouth to speak again but instead of words he chokes on a familiar metallic taste. His left hand immediately covers his mouth and his other hand slams the door shut. He curses, this is the exact time he needed to continue prodding Ouma. But he couldn’t let anyone see him like this. Weak, vulnerable, pitiful. A cough makes its way up his throat and crimson paints his hand. He should be out there, shouting until Ouma listens. He should be outside of this dark bathroom. He should be with the others. He should be with Saihara and Harumaki.
Instead Kaito is hunched over a toilet, watching his blood drip down and dissipate into the water, watching as the clear water slowly becomes clouded with the last parts of his life.