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“ALLLLRIGHTY ULTIMATES!” Monokuma shouted loudly.
The remaining 9 (this is after Kork’s execution) groaned in annoyance. Monokuma’s screeching voice never failed to bring dread to any of the Ultimates- be it for different reasons.
“Huhhh? Why’re we here?” Kokichi piped up. The others turned to look at him, many with a scowl on their faces. He then grinned upon seeing that all the attention was on him. He leaned forward and put his hands behind his back. “It’s for a brand-new motive, riiiight~?”
Monokuma glared at the violette. “Shut up, brat! I never told you to talk!!” he yelled angrily. Kokichi stopped talking but kept his carefree position and grin.
“Daddy’s got a new motive for you~! A very fun one, too!” Monophanie squealed excitedly. “It’s not going to be gory at all~!” Shuichi could feel at least a little relief hearing that. Hopefully, without a violent motive, no one would feel pressured enough to kill.
“What is it?! What’re you sick bastards gonna make us do this time?!” Kaito shouted aggressively. Monokuma and the rest of the Kubs grinned.
“You’ll be sharing a room with at least one other Ultimate here! We’ve decided for you, so don’t even give anyone any glances!” Monodam yelled. “Since there’s an uneven number of ‘ya left, three of you will share one room! The rest are doubled up!” he finished.
Shuichi couldn’t help but wonder how or why this counted as a motive. It wasn’t even relatively suggesting death. Rather, the opposite- it would be harder to get away with it with two or more people sharing a room.
“If one of you commits a murder, then the victim’s roommate would be excluded from the class trial and isolated during the investigation! Wouldn’t want any snitches in the house, even if they weren’t present during the murder, puhuhu~!” Monokuma added.
Oh…
Great. Shuichi could be nervous again.
“Anyways! Let’s get this ball rolling, shall we~?!”
Miu, Tsumugi, and Himiko were paired up. Miu groaned and yelled her vulgar nonsense and Tsumugi stayed relatively unopinionated, besides a short complaint that she muttered at the beginning. Himiko yawned and gave a lazily-built whine about what a pain the experience would be for her.
Gonta was paired up with Keebo. They both looked at each other and gave a kind smile. Gonta promised Keebo that he’d be a gentleman.
Kaito and Maki got paired up. Maki seemed like she hated the idea, but Shuichi could tell she didn’t really hate the encouraging speech Kaito gave her.
That left Shuichi with…
“Kokichi Ouma! You’re paired with Shuichi!” Monokuma finished. All of the mechanical bears then vanished with their, “so long, bear well!”.
Shuichi slowly-fearfully- glanced at Kokichi, who was already looking back at him, wearing that dark, ominous, and frankly creepy grin. Shuichi backed away a bit and made something akin to a high-pitched squeak. Suddenly, Kokichi smiled normally and giggled his signature “nishishi”.
“Guess we’re roomies now, huh, Shumai~? This’ll be fun!” he said cheerfully. Shuichi let himself relax a bit, as he gave a weak and breathy chuckle back. “Yeah, I guess so…”
Everyone started to disperse to go find their assigned room. Shuichi looked over at Kokichi for a sign that he was ready to go. Contrary to anything Shuichi figured Kokichi may have been doing, the short leader looked at him in intense fear.
“Kokichi? Are you okay-?” he asked worriedly, taking a cautious step toward the smaller boy. Kokichi suddenly started to bawl and wail. “SHUMAI’S PLANNING TO TAKE ADVANTAGE OF ME, I JUST KNOW IT!!” he screamed. Shuichi yelped and jumped back. He figured Kokichi was faking again- it was an instinct to assume so at this point- but he couldn’t tell for certain.
“I-I would never do that-!” he protested, earning a smiling, tear-soaked grin from Kokichi.
“Nishishi~! I knowww! I was just testing you!” he informed the detective cheerfully, who sighed and started walking towards the new dorms, feeling Kokichi happily follow by his side.
“Do you think they have more casual clothes for us to wear? I-In the new rooms, I mean…” Shuichi asked, hating the silence, like he needed to fill it before the other male did with some ridiculous outburst.
Kokichi shrugged. “I dunno, I hope so. As much as I love the uniform of my gang, the look gets kinda…. worn? And it gets kinda uncomfortable sometimes…” Kokichi tugged at the bands around his thighs, making Shuichi assume that was the most uncomfortable part of his attire. They did look rather tight.
Shuchi hummed and continued to walk, Kokichi still following. He decided not to comment on how Kokichi hadn’t told any lies in that statement- that he knew of.
“Personally, I feel the same. The collar on my jacket gets tight sometimes… and I’m tired of being called emo,” he muttered the last part, not wanting to make Kokichi feel guilty, since he’s really the only one who called him that.
Kokichi still seemed to hear him, and he giggled. “Haha! That get-up does make you look emo!!” he teased, making Shuichi sigh.
They arrived at a hallway- one that neither Shuichi nor Kokichi remembered being there at all- and saw 4 rooms, labeled with the names of the Ultimates expected to stay in them. Everyone else had already gotten into their dorms.
Everything was silent, except for yelling and Himiko’s quiet sobbing coming from her, Miu’s, and Tsumugi’s dorm.
Kokichi laughed. “Bet it sucks to be stuck in there.”
“Would it kill you to be a little more sympathetic?” Shuichi asked accusingly. Kokichi looked up at him and grinned. “Yeah.”
Monokuma appeared and told the two boys to enter their rooms. “Everyone else is doing as they’re told!” he yelled. Kokichi opened his mouth to say something, but Shuichi grabbed his arm and pulled him into the room before he could say something stupid and get hurt.
The door slammed shut and locked behind them. Both boys looked around the room. It was much larger than they thought; two closets, one with clothes for Kokichi, the other with clothes for Shuichi. There were games and books and… murder weapons?
Go figure.
Kokichi noticed the final major factor before Shuichi did.
“Uhmm… Shumai?”
“Yeah?”
“There’s only one bed..” he mumbled awkwardly.
Shuichi's head snapped over to where the Kokichi was staring- there was indeed only one bed. He blushed intensely and shook his head.
“No way. I’m sleeping on the floor,” he stated calmly. Kokichi whined loudly.
“Huhh?! Oh c’mon, Shumai, it’s not like I’m gonna do anything!!” he complained childishly. Shuichi shook his head and directed his attention to the weapons on the wall. Kokichi walked up to them and analyzed them, feeling some of the knives and sledgehammers.
“Hm. These are pretty basic hand-held weapons. Easy to get caught with.” he said calmly, He grazed his finger over the edge of the last knife.
“Be careful, you’re gonna get cut.” Shuichi piped up. Kokichi looked over at him and shrugged. “Meh, it’s whatever.”
The small leader then went over and flopped onto the bed. “Ohmigod it’s so softttt..” he mumbled, climbing up to the pillows and curling under the think comforter. Shuichi stared at him, surprised at how honest and… different Kokichi was being.
Kokichi seemed to actually relax under the covers, and it was then Shuichi noticed that it had been past the nighttime announcement when Monokuma had called everyone to the gym for this motive.
Shuichi sighed and gently pulled a thinner blanket off the bed, and a spare pillow from the closet. Kokichi watched lazily as he did so.
“What’re you doing-?” he asked tiredly.
“Camping out on the floor,” Shuichi replied calmly. Kokichi sighed and scootched to the edge of the bed, gently patting the space next to him, smiling lazily. Shuichi blinked and blushed, turning his head away.
“I can’t do that.”
“C’mon… I won’t do anything, you won’t even know I’m here. Promise.”
“It’s not that… I don’t wanna make you uncomfortable.”
“I’m offering, aren’t I? I’d feel bad if you slept on the floor, so just get up here already.” Kokichi insisted, scootching farther as if to reassure Shuichi that he wouldn’t be a problem. The detective sighed and hesitantly climbed in next to Kokichi, adding the thin blanket and pillow to the many that were already there.
Kokichi grinned lazily and curled up farther under the blankets. Since he was so small and curled into himself, Shuichi still had plenty of room. He was almost afraid that Kokichi would fall off the bed with how far back he moved.
Kokichi was asleep immediately, but Shuichi couldn’t help but be too paranoid to sleep. He wasn’t particularly bothered about Kokichi- he trusted Kokichi. He was more worried about someone coming to their dorm with bad intentions. Someone like Miu, Maki, or even Tsumugi might come to their room intending to hurt someone- probably Kokichi- and they’d be supplied with a plethora of weapons to choose from.
It didn’t help that if that did occur, Shuichi wouldn’t be there to bring them to justice right away.
Eventually, his fear of someone hurting anyone turned into a fear of someone hurting Kokichi. He wasn’t the most likable person- he was probably the most unlikeable person left in the game. Still, though, Shuichi felt attached to him and felt the need to protect him. So he stayed up all night, reading and making sure Kokichi was alright as he slept peacefully.
Shuichi couldn’t deny how adorable Kokichi looked, curled up under a thick duvet like he was.
T I M E S K I P
Shuichi grabbed the food that had been left in front of their door. The Monokubs had been delivering food three times every day to all the dorms for the Ultimates to eat. He turned back over to see Kokichi, who was sitting cross-legged on the bed, playing a game that had been installed on his Monopad. He wore black jean shorts, a purple checkered T-shirt, a black lace choker, pastel rainbow stockings, and dice-themed hair and clothing accessories. It was truly more Kokichi’s style than his leader uniform.
Shuichi was dressed in a black undershirt, with a dark blue gradient off-shoulder sweater overtop. He wore black ripped jeans and a black beanie. He was also supplied with eyeliner, which Kokichi seemed amazed at as Shuichi was applying it, so he put some on the leader, too.
“Kokichi, the food’s here again,” he called. Kokichi jumped off the bed, tossing his Monopad onto it, as he took his share of the food.
Shuichi sat next to him on the bed as he happily munched on the food. Shuichi started eating his half as well.
Kokichi didn’t finish very much of his food, spiking some concern in Shuichi, seeing as he hadn’t eaten much of anything he was given. He “finished” and went back to the game on his Monopad.
Shuichi finished later and watched Kokichi play his game. Both of them got bored and simply looked at each other, hoping someone or something would entertain them.
“Why don’t you each much?” Shuichi suddenly asked. Kokichi seemed shocked for a moment before he masked the emotion. “Silly Shumai! I just have a small appetite!”
Shuichi glanced at him skeptically. “Are you sure?” he couldn’t exactly accuse Kokichi of anything; he was just worried about his friend’s health.
The boy in question smiled and nodded. “Mhm! ‘S all it is.”
“Is that why you’re so… I dunno… small?”
Kokichi gave a look of offense and hurt. “Shumai!” he hissed. “That’s such a rude thing to say to the vertically challenged!”
Shuichi laughed. “Okay, fine, fine. I’m sorry, oh vertically challenged one,” he said nobly, earning a pleased smile from Kokichi. That’s more like it!!” he said proudly, making Shuichi smile.
Their laughter was interrupted by an all-too-familiar “ding! Dong! Bing! Bong!” coming from their television. Kokichi’s Monopad also rang with the sound. Both boys’ attention snapped to the screen.
“A body had been discovered! Please head to K1-B0 and Gokuhara’s shared dorm!”