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The hangar would be silent if not for the sound of a pen frantically scratching against paper and the coughing of two dying boys.
“You’re writing a lot there,” Momota comments, wiping away blood from his latest coughing fit. “Do you really think the script needs to be that long? I’m sure I can do a decent job imitating you. Just gotta threaten everyone, laugh evilly, mention my talent every ten minutes…”
“Decent isn’t good enough, Mr. Luminary of the Stars,” Kokichi says, not stopping for a second, ignoring the cramp in his hand and the burning in his lungs. “It’s not enough to fool our classmates. We need to fool Monokuma. We need to fool Saihara-chan. If this isn’t perfect, it’s all ruined.”
“So you really think this is gonna work?”
That gets Kokichi to stop. His face is blank when he speaks next. “It needs to.” He returns to writing, not waiting for Momota’s reply.
“You really do care about everyone, huh?”
His pen stills again.
“All this - not just this , but everything you’d been doing, every evil laugh and snarky comment - you’ve been trying to help us. You’ve been trying to end this. In the worst way possible, but still.” Kokichi can hear the stupid grin on his face. “You’re not the evil villain you’ve been trying to act like. You do give a shit.”
“I killed Gonta and Iruma.”
For a few moments, there’s sweet, blissful silence. Of course, Momota can’t just leave it at that. “Yeah, well…Iruma was trying to kill you…”
“Momota-chan, are you trying to defend me? Oh, it’s okay, poor wittle Ouma was just so scawed! He had to manipulate the nicest guy in the group into committing murder for him!” Kokichi rolls his eyes. “You’re such an idiot. The world’s not black and white, you know.” He punctuates his remark with a fit of coughing, staining the black floor pink. Momota, to his credit, says nothing about that.
“Why are you so determined to make everyone hate you?”
“Cause I’m evil, duh. Now shut up and stop distracting me.”
Momota huffs, trying to grab Kokichi’s notebook. Kokichi yanks it away from him.
“Why are you so determined to make me hate you? You’re being a big meanie, Momota-chan.” Kokichi’s eyes fill with tears.
Momota’s used to it by now, though, so he doesn’t even react. “Isn’t it exhausting, acting like that all the time?”
The tears are gone as quick as they came. “Like what? Myself? I mean, of course it’s tiring to be so smart and so far ahead of everyone, but I can’t help it! It’s not my fault some people are smarter than others.”
“Isn’t it tiring to act like a supervillain all the time? Can’t you just be a normal person for five fucking minutes?”
Kokichi sighs dramatically, putting his notebook down. “You know, for someone whose life depends on this plan, you really aren’t taking it seriously enough. I’m starting to regret letting you have that antidote now. Hm…maybe if I killed you, Monokuma would get me a second dose?”
Momota shakes his head. “You wouldn’t.”
“Oh? And what makes you say that?”
“Your stupid evil villain act isn’t gonna work on me anymore. You want this game to end just as much as I do. You don’t have to keep wearing a mask.”
Kokichi laughs. Not his trademark evil giggle, but laughter, involuntary and genuine, even though it’s not even a little bit funny.
“Just because you’ve realized I’m wearing a mask doesn’t mean you know what’s underneath it,” he says, once he’s done laughing. “I’ll cut you a deal - let me write in peace, and maybe, just maybe, I’ll give you a peak.” Kokichi holds out his hand, raising an eyebrow. “Deal?”
Momota hesitates before finally taking Kokichi’s hand. “Deal.”
Kokichi’s barely finished when the pain really starts.
He’d been ignoring it while he had something to focus on, but as soon as he puts the pen down, it hits him in full. He manages to close the notebook and push it away before he throws up, acid burning his throat. Momota makes a noise of sympathy, scooting closer to Kokichi.
“Shit, Ouma, are you…” The words hang in the air.
“I’m dying, Momota-chan,” he says, wiping his mouth with his scarf, staining it pink. It won’t matter soon, anyway.
“Maybe - maybe it doesn’t have to go this way. Maybe there's another antido-”
“And ruin all my hard work? No thanks.” He rolls his eyes. “Besides, isn’t this what you wanted? You’ll finally get the defeat the scawy eviw monster!”
“You - I - cut the crap, Ouma. We’re both dying, would it kill you to stop lying?”
“Oh, absolutely. And we can’t have me dying before you get the chance to kill me, right?”
Momota takes a deep breath. “You’re doing this on purpose, aren’t you? You want to push me away. You wanna push everyone away. You act like this because…because you’re scared.”
Kokichi stares at him blankly. “And what do I have to be afraid of?”
“Yourself.”
If Kokichi wasn’t dying, he wouldn’t slip up. But he does. He flinches, only a bit, barely noticeable - but Momota sees.
His gaze softens, and it hurts worse than any poisoned arrow. “Ouma-”
“Why are you doing this? What’s the point? I’m dying. Even if you get to see “the real me”, it’s not going to matter. And, besides -” his grand, sweeping gestures are cut off by another fit of coughing. “Would you like the truth, Momota-chan? Would you like to see what’s under my mask?”
Momota doesn’t say anything. Kokich presses on.
“There’s nothing underneath it. The truth you’re looking for, the "real Ouma Kokichi" - he doesn’t exist!”
“I -”
“So instead of trying to find the truth - let’s just live a lie, for a little bit longer. You’d do that for me, right Momota-chan?”
“I - Ouma -”
“Or do you still want the truth? Do you wanna hear aaaall about my tragic past? Poor little baby Kokichi, abandoned by his parents, all alone in an orphanage with no friends. Ooh, or maybe, I grew up on the streets, and never made it to an orphanage! Or maybe I did have parents, and they beat me every night, until I ran away! Or maybe none of that’s the truth. Maybe I’m just a spoiled brat who wants to ruin everything. Take your pick!”
Kokichi is glad they’re sitting on the floor, because he thinks if he was standing, his legs would be about to give out underneath him. The floor feels like it’s collapsing. His voice is still cooperating with him, cruel and sharp and poisonous, but his limbs aren’t. His hands shake when he tries to move them.
“Can you do one thing for me, Momota-chan?”
“Yeah?” Momota says. His face is expressionless and his voice is flat, and Kokichi should feel accomplished but instead he just feels tired.
“Lie to me. Just for a little longer. Just pretend I’m someone else, someone you really care about. Someone you’d mourn.”
It’s Momota that makes the first move, which seems to surprise him as much as it surprises Kokichi. Momota tastes like blood and ashes. As first kisses go, it’s not very romantic, but Momota is a better liar than he’d admit. He wonders who Momota is thinking about - Harukawa, probably. Maybe Saihara. Anyone but the monster he’s been fighting this whole time.
“That wasn’t a lie,” Momota says, as he pulls away.
“Let’s get this over with,” Kokichi says. “I’d rather die than keep looking at your face.” He starts to stand and topples over immediately, Momota’s arms the only thing protecting him from crashing to the ground. He ends up letting Momota carry him entirely, since his legs have stopped cooperating with him. He can barely hold the camera to film Momota’s part of the video.
The hydraulic press is cold. Momota is warm, and it takes Kokichi all his power not to beg him to stay. There’s no turning back now. Momota lingers as well, brushing his hand through Kokichi’s hair.
“Hey,” Kokichi says, as Momota stares into the distance. “At least I wasn’t boring, right?”
Momota kisses him on the forehead, and a few moments later, so does the hydraulic press.