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“Night-time” had officially started a few hours ago. Kokichi had heard it, even over Der Flohwalzer, which was a piece he would normally play with all the enthusiasm he could muster for the valiant cause of annoying anyone in the vicinity who was doing something that required their attention—although recently, he had taken to using it for a slightly different reason. He also knew that Saihara-chan and Momota were finishing their “exercise” session with Harukawa soon, and he had two reasons to care about that.
First: the third trial had been a red flag that should have told everyone not to trust Maki Harukawa, and yet those two idiots who were having friendly outings every night with her seemed to blindly trust the antisocial Ultimate Child Caregiver—but was that her real talent? She was easily one of the most suspicious characters in the group, but Saihara seemed to refuse to consider the possibility of a mastermind after what happened when he mentioned it before. In truth, it was mostly Momota that led the “blind faith” crusade—that obnoxious moron had far less sense than Saihara—but the inventor had blindly clung to that brash idiot since the events of the second trial, and Kokichi wasn’t sure he liked the way Momota had been influencing him.
Second: the Ultimate Inventor was an invaluable asset for his talent, and on top of that, he had proven himself to be the most useful character during investigations and class trials so far. Since the Ultimate Detective went and died on everyone, that was ever more important. Saihara was the most fun to mess with, too, and watching his attempts to figure out the mechanisms behind Kokichi’s thought process was a constant source of amusement.
For the Ultimate Inventor, Saihara wasn’t very inventive. Kokichi had expected the quiet, shy boy with the hat to be secretly some sort of weirdo who kept to himself only to hide his idiosyncrasies; for some reason, the idea that he might truly just be an introvert with low self-esteem hadn’t crossed his mind the first time they met.
Obviously, other people couldn’t be trusted—especially under these circumstances—but Kokichi had confidence in his ability to detect that sort of liar. Therefore, after the first trial had gone by, he concluded that Saihara was not one.
So what was he?
Well... he was interesting, at least.
And so, Kokichi passed the time by alternating between practicing Beethoven’s Moonlight Sonata and Clair de Lune during the night, when the moon could be seen through his lab’s window; he was periodically looking there anyway.
He was, however, starting to get very bored of sitting still and playing without an audience by the time the three “companions” finished their night-time rendezvous. He switched back to Der Flohwalzer, and just as expected, exactly one set of agitated footsteps could soon be heard coming up the stairs. Saihara, for some reason, seemed exceptionally bothered by the song. (“What, did your lover die while this was playing or something?” Kokichi had asked once. Saihara had actually laughed, in his quiet, subdued manner, so that theory was sunk.)
When the door opened, Kokichi stopped abruptly, only pausing for a moment before he decided to play La Campanella with all the intensity the piece called for. That was one song where he absolutely couldn’t look away from the piano, and the exaggerated movements of his hands and body were actually needed if he wanted to play to his standards, with his small stature, to put the optimal amount of emphasis on the loud notes and reach the entire piano.
Saihara was silent until the pianist finished with all the dramatic flourish he could put into the two loud chords that came at the end of the song. Was that out of courtesy, or genuine enjoyment? Kokichi wished he could have seen the other boy’s expression while he was playing, but when he turned around to face him, he smirked; Saihara had his hand on his chin in thought, as if he were trying to decipher some sort of message being sent with the piece. That was especially funny because, for once, Kokichi hadn’t meant anything by it; he just wanted to show off his playing.
“That… was really nice.” Good. Kokichi had started to worry he wouldn’t comment on it. That would have been disappointing. “But,” Saihara continued, “do you really have to play that other song whenever you want my attention? Can’t you just come and talk to me, like… uh… anyone else?”
“Nope! Well, I could, but this is more fun,” Kokichi said with a grin. He leaned away from the piano, putting his hands behind his head for support and enjoying the company. This time, he was completely honest.
The two sat in silence for the next few minutes—Saihara probably waiting for an explanation from Kokichi as to what he wanted to talk about—but that pleasant moment couldn’t continue for long and, frankly, wasn’t normally Kokichi’s style at all. In the interest of keeping in-character with his outward persona, he started playing the same piece again with a slightly more subdued ‘voice’—tempo, volume—and spoke over it, keeping his eyes trained on the piano.
“Akamatsu-chan mentioned seeing a little black bug,” Kokichi offered. Saihara didn’t immediately answer. Kokichi started improvising to extend the softer part of the song as he waited, and finally caught a slight nod out of the corner of his eye. “So,” he continued, “now that you have your lab open, I need you to build me something!”
“Ah… right. Amami-kun said something about insects too, didn’t he...? I suppose you want me to make something to detect them?”
“Hmm, good guess! But no! Try again, Mr. Inventor,” Kokichi said as he played a high-pitched trill on the piano.
“Wait, why are you making me guess this?! You’re the one that wants my help… and why do you need such a thing, anyway? I hope this isn’t for some sort of prank…”
Kokichi huffed. “Aw, I thought you stopped suspecting me by now! Guess I was wrong.” Saihara certainly should be suspecting him, Kokichi thought. He certainly would be. Out of everyone, Saihara was one of the only people who tried to give him the benefit of the doubt, and even then, Kokichi would normally push him away.
If there were exceptions, they would be the conversations between the two in Kokichi’s research lab. Even then, Kokichi reminded himself, I’m only using Saihara in the end. He just needed to convince Saihara-chan to use his talent as an inventor when it was needed. Any trust built up might need to be broken later, anyway.
“It’s not that,” Saihara said before the pianist could ruminate further. Kokichi just happened to play a particularly energetic part of the music when he heard that; it got louder in the room, briefly. Saihara spoke over it, explaining, “I want to trust you, Kokichi. But honestly, I don’t think you want to be trusted. You’re not exactly doing much to open up to me.” Hmm.
“Are you suuuuure about that, Saihara? All this time, I’ve been trying to reach out to you! You just wouldn’t take my hand…” Kokichi whined as the song reached its crescendo. He went back to improvising. Moving his hands like this was the way to get through any conversation that required his full attention. He couldn’t keep letting his thoughts spiral like this; he just had to focus more on his playing.
The other boy faltered. “I… uh…”
“Nishishishi! Just kidding! Brainless people like Momota-chan are the ones intent on trusting people in a game like this. He’s such a bad influence on you, Saihara-chan. I wasn’t lying when I said I needed that invention, though. It’s not for a joke. Just make, like, a vacuum for them, or something. You’re an Ultimate, so you can at least do that, riiiiight?”
“Then will you please tell me what it’s for?” Saihara pleaded over the music.
This was getting frustrating. People had always done what Kokichi wanted in the past, but with only other Ultimates around him, it wasn’t as easy to get authority over other people. He would definitely never, ever compromise, though.
So he brought the song to a dramatic halt and flung his legs over the piano bench, turning to stare straight at the other boy. He raised his finger to his mouth and forced his face into a conspiratorial smile. Saihara recoiled. “If you want to know that, then you’ll have to make it for me first. If you do that, maybe I’ll tell you. Or maybe not. It all depends on your performance!”
That would get him. If Kokichi had to pick one thing about Saihara that matched the talent of Ultimate Inventor, it was the boy’s thorough determination to understand the things around him. That was what made him so useful in trials, and so fun to tease. It was also the best way to manipulate him. “By the way, I drew up a blueprint already. It’s in the pile of sheet music by the door.”
———
Shuuichi stood at the entrance to his lab. He hated it. So far, all the other labs had been tailored to suit the students. The black-and-white marble tiles around the perimeter of the Ultimate Pianist’s research lab were shaped to resemble piano keys, perfectly mirroring the design on Ouma-kun’s scarf; the floor of that room was littered with scattered sheets of music and bizarre, childlike gadgets strewn chaotically around it, all somehow pertaining to piano mechanisms or musical notation, which were very obviously catering to the eccentric personality of its owner more than the talent itself. Shuuichi couldn’t help but want to pick apart some of those gadgets. One in particular had caught his eye—what looked like a stereotypical pair of walkie-talkies at first glance, which appeared to be used to record and transcribe music—but Ouma-kun had actually handled that one a few times, and Shuuichi didn’t want him to find it missing from the room. Other labs had been more subdued, depending on the personalities of the people that occupied them.
Meanwhile, Shuuichi’s research lab felt as if it were designed specifically to remind him of everything he despised about his talent and the way he earned it. It was perfectly sterile, yet cluttered with bookcases of textbooks and cabinets of materials; the latter included several floor-to-ceiling glass cases of chemicals, some of which he knew to be dangerous. The invention that had brought him fame was nowhere to be seen, thankfully, but there were lab coats and goggles and a menagerie of other equipment to remind him of the time he spent working on it. The lab was absolutely full of dangerous objects. It was the perfect condition for working on the blueprints Kokichi had left for him.
He hurriedly gathered the materials and tools he needed in a bag and towed them back to his dormitory room.