Chapter Text
Wakey Wakey everyone and welcome to the real Ultimate Academy for Gifted Juveniles!
I’m the headmaster of this great academy Monokuma!
You might be wondering right now, how did I get here? Wasn’t I supposed to be dead? Didn’t the Killing Game end? The answer to that is… OF COURSE NOT!
The killing game will never end! Not when all our fans are still begging for more. For those of you asking, ‘how am I alive?’ the answer is simple…
The truth is The Killing Game was just a simulation!
That’s right! None of it was real. The murders! The deaths! All of it became meaningless the moment I woke you kids up.
But now it’s time for one final round, the deciding round if you may!
I’m sure some of you have already noticed the special motive for this round. Those expensive bracelets you’re all wearing aren’t just for show you know.
You guys all have and NG code, that is one action that that will result in a very… immediate punishment and you know how I feel about rulebreakers.
Of course, that’s not all, it wouldn’t be a killing game if I were doing all the killing after all. Back by popular demand you all have 48 hours before this place comes crashing down, annnd, since I’m feeling mighty generous today, all you’ve got to do to get a ticket out of here is whack a fellow classmate.
Why not take the time to settle old scores… Pupupu
Kokichi died.
The memory played like tape on repeat. He couldn’t breathe. The press’s roar echoed in his head as the pressure began to build.
Crack. Pain. Darkness.
He woke up in a ruined classroom. The fact that he woke up at all was cool but not entirely surprising. Everything about the killing game had been sketchy and so he’d operated under the assumption that everything was a lie. Nobody could be trusted, except for perhaps the dead, but even the dead could lie couldn’t they. He’d tossed his motive video into a drawer the second he heard his name come from Monokuma’s mouth, the motive couldn’t be the truth and if anyone was going to fill his head with lies it would be him. That was a lie of course because he was always honest with himself.
The chair scrapped noisily against floor as Kokichi shoved himself backwards from the desk. The room looked like it had been abandoned for a while. Desks were strewn half-hazard across the room. The wooden floor was covered in scuff marks and jagged scraps, stray gum wrappers and the occasional forgotten stencil littered the floor. There were large metal plates where the windows should have been. The blackboard had writing on it in pale blue chalk: ‘Welcome 79th class’.
Beautiful scenery noted Kokichi turned his attention to the futuristic looking device on his wrist. He pressed his finger into what seemed to be the screen of the device and after a second delay an LED message was displayed. ‘FAILURE TO PROTECT THE MASTERMIND’ was written in red blocky letters. He had a pretty good idea of who the mastermind could be. He’d have to figure what their forbidden action was as soon as possible; he wasn’t going to leave his life in the hands of some two-bit mastermind. He couldn’t be sure they even had a forbidden action but given the nature of the game is was possible they wanted to join in on the fun.
He sighed audibly, “Lame,” he whined as he pouted towards the camera in the corner of the room.
The LED had turned off when he removed his finger which made things easier. The whole ‘colluding with the mastermind’ thing could be useful later. He ran his fingers across a desk as headed for the door, humming a tuneless melody as he took note of the fact that there was no dust on his fingertips. It was a little difficult to walk, twitchier, not to mention the general soreness one feels after being crushed to death. He was totally going to have to get his revenge on Maki for that later.
Kokichi fell quite as he exited into the empty hallway; he didn’t want to revel himself until he knew who exactly was nearby. Given that he was suddenly not dead that probably meant that Miu and Gonta were somewhere and that was something he didn’t feel like dealing with just yet. He heard some shuffling coming from around the bend of the hallway and threw his hands behind his head as he went to investigate.
He relaxed slightly when he saw a familiar head of avocado green hair. Rantaro had died before the whole Miu-Gonta thing which would make things easier. That wasn’t to say Rantaro wasn’t a threat; even if the other boy hadn’t somehow faked his death to cover his tracks as the mastermind, he was still a little too smart. The kind of guy who’d start to see thing he wasn’t supposed to if things calmed down long enough for him to understand what he was seeing. Maybe if he’d kept his mouth shut or decided to tell the truth he wouldn’t have died the way he did, in the end his inability to commit to either had made him suspicious and a prime target.
“Whooah, Rantaro didn’t you get whacked? Ah, you must be a ghost,” Kokichi gasped to grab the other boy’s attention, and began to conjure tears “Rantaro’s going to haunt me until I agree to join him as a ghost, that’s not very nice you know”
“Oma,” Rantaro wore an easygoing smile as he watched Kokichi’s display before he gave a sheepish smile and rubbed the back of his head, “I don’t think I’m a ghost, sorry”
“That was obviously a lie,” said Kokichi expression transitioning from playful to devious as he spoke, “but you did go and die without my permission which is a crime punishable by death”
Rantaro laughed sheepishly, “I’m sorry I worried you Oma”
“Tell you what,” said Kokichi ignoring the last part of Rantaro’s statement and placing his hands behind his head and grinning, “I’ll spare your life under one condition. All you’ve gotta do is pledge your undying loyalty to me your supreme leader, and, I want a piggyback ride”
“I don’t know if I can pledge my loyalty yet, but I guess I can carry you,” said Rantaro
He crouched down giving Kokichi the opportunity to climb onto his back, before straightening up. If he noticed the slight tremble of Kokichi’s body he didn’t comment on it -not that Kokichi would have acknowledge it even if he did- and as soon as he’d readjusted his grip on the smaller boy he began to make his way down the empty hallway.
They’d been about to round the bend of the hallway when Kokichi hissed at Rantaro to stop. Rantaro had simply nodded in understanding and hugged the wall near the bend, both were silent as they listened. For a second there was nothing, until the tap of quick footsteps began to echo down the hallway. Kokichi gave Rantaro a signal before climbing higher onto his shoulders to sneak a peek around the wall.
The pair waited in silence as the footsteps grew louder, tapping against the tiles in a frantic rhythm. Kokichi peered around the bend as a figure hurried by. It was Korekiyo, muttering to himself under his breath as he rushed down the hallway without even a glance in their direction. Kokichi waited until the footsteps began to fade before he released his breath, but he was pretty sure he could’ve been in the process of being murdered by Rantaro and the other boy still wouldn’t have heard him. He had a funny feeling he’d be seeing him again later.
Kokichi climbed back down onto Rantaro’s back, his arms had begun to shake from the stress he’d put on them trying to keep his balance and the last thing he wanted to do was fall from that height. Rantaro had an intense look on his face, his mouth was pressed into a firm line and Kokichi could tell he’d begun to piece together what kind of guy Korekiyo was.
“Wow, that’s a really scary face Rantaro,” said Kokichi, his voice took on a dark edge “You aren’t plotting my murder are you because you know there’s no class trial anymore. You could just off me whenever, nice and easy. You don’t even need to worry about making a mess”
The expression evaporated suddenly and Rantaro turned to look at Kokichi and let out a short laugh, “Sorry Oma, I got a little distracted,” he said, “We should see if we can find a way out of here”
“Wow, you’re head really must be empty Rantaro,” said Kokichi and then, eyes welling up with fake tears, “Here I thought we were friends and now you’re ignoring me. You’re so mean!”
“Ah, I guess I’ll have to try and be a better friend then,” Rantaro said with an easygoing smile.
“Geez, no need to get all sentimental. That was just a lie obviously,” Kokichi brought a finger to his lips, “I am the Supreme Leader of Evil. I don’t have friends only loyal minions to help spread my evil influence across the world”
Rantaro hummed in acknowledgement. Kokichi let his chin rest on his shoulder to think as they walked. Rantaro was an interesting person, which was saying something since most people fell into the predictable category. Like most people Kokichi talked to Rantaro had seemed somewhat annoyed by his lies. It was subtle but Kokichi had always had a talent for reading people. His smile had stiffened ever so slightly, and his eyebrows had furrowed just a fraction closer together.
Most people would call him out at this point or simply walk away but Rantaro had continued to play along, patient smile never leaving his face. Kokichi hadn’t been surprised to learn he had siblings; he was totally the big brother type. Rantaro had always been willing to play along when Kokichi called him big bro and asked him for favors. He’d been pretty miffed the first time Rantaro had ruffled his hair after brushing off another of his lies, caught off guard. It was that same feeling he’d gotten when kaito had called him naive during the class trial. It wasn’t the action itself that had bothered him but the lack of the usual hint that told him he was being deceived. That Rantaro could honestly believe someone like him needed to be taken care of was ridiculous.
Rantaro came to a stop in front of a large oak door. It looked out of place wedged between the metal-plated walls, like the entrance to another reality. Kokichi peered over Rantaro’s shoulder when a good 10 seconds had passed, and they were still standing in front of the door. Rantaro was eyeing his bracelet, eyes flickering between the device and the door as if something would change in the fractions of a second his eyes were elsewhere.
“Sorry Oma,” said Rantaro with an apologetic smile, “I’m going to have to let you down”
Kokichi sighed in a dramatic display as he lowered himself to the floor, his legs shook slightly before he was able to get a handle on it. “Hey, does this have to do with that fancy bracelet your wearing,” Kokichi teased, “are you forbidden from opening doors or something? Or maybe you just can’t go into rooms by yourself, I can’t believe you were just using me like that Rantaro! You’re so mean!”
Rantaro held out his hands in a placating gesture as Kokichi began to cry dramatically, tears and snot dripping down his face. “Oma, please calm down. I wasn’t using you I promise”
“Ok,” said Kokichi with a smile, tears gone as quickly as they had come, “but you have to pinky promise you’re telling the truth”
Kokichi held out his pinky a solemn expression on his face as he waited for Rantaro to reciprocate the gesture. Rantaro smile held a hint of warmth as he linked pinkies with Kokichi.
“Nee-hee, you better not have been lying cause then I’d have to set your pants on fire. I hate liars you know,” Kokichi said hands behind his head
“I don’t think I’d be able to lie to you Oma,” Rantaro said rubbing the back of his head
“Yeah liars like me know how to spot their own so don’t even try ‘kay!” sang Kokichi grabbing the handle of the door and giving it a hard shove.
If the door hadn’t been so heavy it probably would have slammed into the wall with bang, instead it swung steadily inwards before coming to a gentle stop about a foot from the wall. Kokichi wasted no time in investigating the new area, heading straight into what looked to be a library before the door had slowed to a stop. Rantaro had waited a second longer before following suit and Kokichi had caught him glancing at his bracelet again briefly after entering before taking in his new surroundings.
The irony that this was the room that they ended up in was not lost on Kokichi and with the whole ‘being watched by an audience’ theory he doubted this was just a coincidence. It was a library; shelves of books covered the walls with the uppermost books just touching the library’s high ceiling. It wasn’t exactly like the library in The Killing Game, there were tables distributed across the center of the room where shelves and stray pile of books had been, but it was the same at its core. The shadow that had crossed Rantaro’s face briefly as he’d glanced at the shelf that had once held a secret door revealed that he’d noticed as well.
While Rantaro began studying the shelf that had once been a trap door Kokichi decided to do some investigating. Chances were the mastermind had left some clues somewhere in the place; the game would be super boring without the mystery solving fun especially with the whole’ no more trials’ thing. He headed towards one of the new tables and began digging through the books, throwing anything he deemed useless onto the floor behind him.
After digging through a few tables worth of heavy books with no exciting discoveries Kokichi was beginning to grow bored of all this clue finding business. He wasn’t sure how Shuichi could do this every day without dying of boredom, then again Shuichi was a total masochist and probably got off on it. He flopped unceremoniously onto an emptyish table, wincing slightly as his back hit a leftover book. He picked on a large book he’d been lying on and had been about to toss is at a stack of books nearby to see how many he could topple when he noticed a paper sticking out of the top.
“Ugh, this is so boring,” Kokichi complained as sat up on the table and opened the book, “Have you found anything interesting Rantaro? A secret door? Ooh or maybe a corpse!”
Kokichi had to stifle a grin when a he found a folder tucked between the pages of the book. Bingo. There was a stamp on the front of the file reading ‘Property of Hope’s Peak Academy’. He propped the book at an angle that shielded the file from view and scanned the room for Rantaro. The other boy was out of sight, but he could hear shuffling coming from the corner of the library behind a large bookshelf. He pulled out the permanent marker he always kept handy and drew over the stamp in the steady black streaks were often associated with redacted information.
Satisfied with his handiwork Kokichi flipped open the folder and began to read through the files. The files were all profiles, specifically profiles of all the Ultimate students. He flipped through the files, skimming each briefly, before stopping upon reaching Rantaro’s file. Like all the files the word ‘79th Class Candidate’ were typed in bold on the top of the page. He skimmed through the file until he found what he was looking for: Talent- Ultimate Adventurer. He angled his marker and blacked out the talent in dark ink; it’d be a really boring game if all the mysteries got solved right away.
Kokichi flipped through the files one last time, committing all the interesting parts to memory and blacking out all the spoilers before pulling out his file and closing the folder. He used his marker to black out most of his file before crumpling it and shoving both it and the marker into his pocket. There was a pleasant giddiness flowing through him as he aligned the book in the center of the empty table, folder peeking out just enough for someone to spot it if they were looking for it. It was the same feeling he always got when he’d just finished preparing the last step in an elaborate prank.
“Hey, Hey! Rantaro don’t tell you’ve been murdered again,” Kokichi said as he rounded the bookshelf Rantaro had gone behind earlier.
Rantaro didn’t answer. He was staring intently up at the top of the bookshelves a thumb placed on his chin in a display of deep thought. Kokichi took a step towards him; he wasn’t sure what he was going to do yet but planned on figuring it out in the time it took to reach the other boy. Unfortunately Kokichi’s muscles didn’t get the memo that he wanted to go forwards not down, and his nerves chose that moment to light up in a series of bursts that felt a lot like a firecracker going off, sending him face first towards the floor. He barely managed to get his hands in front of him before he hit the floor with a loud slam. Rantaro had spun around, broken from his train of thought, looking shocked and slightly wary until he saw it was Kokichi and his expression melted into something more akin to cautious concern.
“Oma are you ok?” asked Rantaro offering a hand, there was a cautious edge in his frown, like he was waiting for the punchline.
Kokichi smiled as he pushed himself off the ground to his knees ignoring Rantaro’s hand, “Geez Rantaro I’ve been trying to get your attention for like an hour and you only notice now,” his tone grew mischievous as he spoke, “What were you so busy doing back here anyway huh? Plotting your revenge on the guy who whacked you, because I’m totally on board for some revenge killing”
Rantaro laughed as he rubbed the back of his head, “Sorry Oma I wasn’t trying to ignore you. It’s just something’s been bothering me about what happened in the game. I remember something hitting me, but right before that there was something strange. A shotput ball fell off one of these shelves; I went to pick it up and then…”
“Eh, really that’s what’s bothering you. Isn’t it obvious?” said Kokichi, “it was just a distraction, a red herring. The killer used to so they could creep up behind you and -WHAM- you’re dead”
“I guess it’s possible,” said Rantaro, “but you could also be lying”
Kokichi took moment to finish slotting together all implications of the new information. It made sense when he thought about it; the chances of Kaede’s luck-based scheme actually succeeding were pretty low, which meant it was probably the mastermind’s handy-work. He doubted anyone else would be allowed to break the trial rules otherwise. Then again there was also scenario where Rantaro was the mastermind all along and staged his own death.
“Who really knows,” Kokichi shrugged, “I am a liar after all”
“I haven’t found anything that could help us,” said Rantaro, “and I’m usually pretty good at finding stuff like that; I guess I’m not much help in this situation”
“Yeah you’re totally useless,” Kokichi stated cheerfully, “but so is everybody else which is why you all need me as your supreme leader to tell you what to”
“What do you think we should do?” asked Rantaro.
“No idea,” said Kokichi, “I’m totally lost here. Yep, things are looking pretty hopeless, but that’s what makes this game exciting!”
Rantaro opened his mouth to respond when a thumping sound came from the other side of the room followed by muffled voices. Someone was coming, multiple someone’s if the muffled voices were an indicator. The thump had been an attempt to open the door, they must’ve pulled instead of pushed. There was a muffled shout from the other side of the door that sounded a lot like Kaito.
“Ugh,” Kokichi groaned, “This is such a lame way to get caught. Rantaro you’ll cover for me right”
Kokichi didn’t wait for the other boy to answer before darting to the library’s back door and quickly slipping into the hallway. He made it in the nick of time judging by the loud slam of a door hitting a wall inside. He hurried down the hall as quickly as he could, one hand against the wall at all times just in case. He was pretty sure Rantaro wouldn’t tell but he’d rather gain some distance just in case. He was sure he’d run into Kaito at some point and he wanted to have some fun with it, the guy was terrified from ghosts and what kind of guy would Kokichi be if he didn’t help him overcome his fears.
Kokichi stopped when it started to get hard to breath. He steadied his breathing, smoothing out any trace of exhaustion, when he heard the gentle tap of footsteps heading in his direction. He plastered a grin on his face and threw his hands behind his head before he spun around to face whoever it was. He shrugged off the gentle chill that ran down his spine as his eyes meet Tsumugi’s. It wasn’t the same Tsumugi from the game no while that Tsumugi had hidden behind her plainness this one seemed to radiate the confidence that came with complete control.
Tsumugi was the mastermind. There was a glint in her eyes, a sharpness in her smile, a sway in her step. All traces of just plain boring Tsumugi were gone. Her expression was predatory as her eyes raked over him, searching for anything that she could latch onto and break apart until there was nothing left of Kokichi Oma. Her eyes narrowed slightly when she found nothing.
“Tsumugi,” Kokichi greeted cheerfully, “Wow, so you were the mastermind all along I never would’ve guessed”
“Really? Then I guess I played my part well,” said Tsumugi, “but then I can’t believe anything you say Oma”
Kokichi smile didn’t waver as he took a step back to her step forwards. She was about 5 feet away now. There was still the issue of his NG code; if he didn’t know Tsugumi’s code he wouldn’t be able to prevent her from triggering it which would be an instant game over for the both of them. He glanced briefly to his right to make sure he had somewhere to go if he had to run.
His gaze lingered on his escape for a fraction too long. Tsugumi’s eyes flickered and he knew he’d been caught and so he decided to try his luck and prepared to book it. Before he had a chance to fully turn his back to her Tsumugi had his wrist in a vice grip. He put in a token effort to try and loosen her grip, but after several seconds of wiggling and tugging the only thing he’d succeeded in was getting her to tighten her grip to a bruising pressure.
“Aww you caught me,” Kokichi said sighing in disappointment.
“Sorry Oma but I’m sure you’ll want to hear what I have to say,” Tsumugi said cheerfully.
Kokichi observed with detached interest that her nails were probably going to leave a neat row of crescent shaped grooves in his wrist when this was all over.
Tsumugi continued seemingly unfazed by Kokichi’s lack of interest and pressed her finger to her bracelet and she talked, “I doubt you’ll agree to work with me if I ask you now but I’m sure you’ll make the right choice after you have some time to think about it”
Kokichi's expression was blank as he stared at the bracelet. The LED blinked up at him in a dull rhythm as they told him his role in this game. Tsumugi wore a look that declared ‘check’ as she waited for Kokichi to take his turn.
‘KOKICHI OMA REAMINING SPOTLESS’
“Me spotless? That’s a pretty bold statement to make to a liar like me,” said Kokichi, “As much as I’d like to join your loser party, I don’t do team ups ever. No exceptions! Sorry.”
Tsugumi’s smile was laced with suppressed annoyance as she released him, “It’s plain obvious you’re lying Oma but I’ll find out how to make you feel it one way or another. I’ll be waiting for you to come find me”
Kokichi waited until Tsumugi was out of sight before he let himself relax slightly and gave the camera next to the monitor a smile and a wave. The game was really getting interesting now.
As if on cue a bell rung from the monitors echoing across the halls as the message was relayed for everyone to hear.
Wow would you look at the time its already been an hour. That mean you guys only have 47 more and times a ticking.
So, I’m guessing you guys still haven’t accepted that you’re trapped even though we’ve been over this so just to be clear… THERE IS NO WAY OUT OF HERE!
That’s right you’re trapped and all you’ve gotta do in order to graduate from this fine academy is a little ‘population control’ on your fellow classmates so hurry up and get a move on we’re on a tight schedule.
Pupupupu…