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Gonta began walking away, slowly, as would a movie protagonist after something terrible just happened. He was both painfully aware and completely unaware of his surroundings, the cold flooring under his feet, the sound of his classmates' footsteps as they walked behind him.
He walked down the hallway, and eventually entered his room amidst the farewells the others bid him. At least, he thought they did. He couldn't hear it. If someone asked him who he was, he would probably not even have an answer ready.
He went inside, shut the door, and then just stood there, wordlessly, as the events that had just transpired slowly caught up to him. His best friend died. Or, at least, that seemed to be the case. That's what he told himself, trying to hold onto the feeble hope that maybe this was just an elaborate, albeit cruel prank Kokichi was pulling.
He seemed to be expecting Monokuma to want to execute him, since the plan was his idea, even if he technically didn't carry it out. And, when the bear went quiet and then randomly said it seemed like a good idea, well... He could have sworn he saw a moment of fear flicker across Kokichi's features, before being replaced by a neutral, albeit slightly defeated expression. Like when one loses a video game. Like it was all a game to him.
"Man... I didn't expect things to end up like this. But it's fine! I don't mind! I had a death wish anyway!"
No matter how much Gonta racked his brain, he couldn't muster up any kind of mockup of what the rest of the students said. Something about how disgusted they were? He didn't remember which one of them they were even disgusted with, but it's not like Kokichi did as much bad as he did. He took a life. He knew why he did it in a technical way, he knew he consented to it. And yet, there was a hollowness in his chest.
"Ya know, Kokichi..." Monokuma said "I wasn't expecting this to happen."
"What do you mean?"
"For you to bite the bullet. We prepared Gonta's execution for today, but I'm sure you won't mind if we use it on you. To cut costs"
He very clearly tensed up at that. It was a blink-and-you'll-miss-it type of deal. He used to miss it. Not anymore. He found it strange and even kind of funny in a way. In hindsight, it wasn't so funny anymore, but that's besides the point.
As the days passed and they grew closer and closer, he began noticing split second differences in Kokichi's demeanor. If something excited, irked, freaked out, angered, or even saddened him, there was a flash across his eyes. He would slowly become aware of it, but decided not to say anything, because to be honest, he knew that he'd start going out of his way to hide even that small flash of life. And he loved seeing it.
"Let's give it everything we've got-"
"Wait a second! Damn!" He groaned, before facing Gonta, making eye-contact. It felt as though he was trying to tell him something with a gaze. He could never forget the way he looked at that time. It was burned into his memory, into his very essence.
He seemed scared, and yet, oddly accepting. The expression didn't flicker away as quickly as usual. It was his goodbye.
"I just wanted to say that you guys were...pretty cool, I guess. I mean, you were still boring, but c'mon. So make it out of this game, kay?"
He smiled. That same smile he showed whenever he was in front of the others. But they couldn't look at it for long, because the collar snapped onto his neck and dragged him away. He ended up being tied to a pole in a scene resembling the wild west, and Monokuma began shooting some kind of robot bugs at him. He didn't...last very long, going limp long before the execution would finish, his body almost dangling. Then, a large insect, he wasn't paying attention to the species, flew and pierced his stomach. And to top it all off, he was set on fire.
He knew how much Kokichi feared bugs. He never truly hated them, he just feared them. And Gonta understood that, he had fears of his own. He hoped to maybe show him that maybe bugs aren't so scary after all. That they're kind and harmless. But their time was cut short.
And he hated that. He hated everything. Absolutely everything. But most of all, he hated himself. It was him who killed Miu, and yet, he's still here. He was the one that had to go. He doesn't deserve to be alive. He shouldn't have survived.
His emotions overwhelmed him in a way he wasn't familiar with. He wanted to destroy something, which wasn't common for him in the slightest. Then, suddenly, a loud crack broke him out of the trance-like state he found himself in. He struck the desk in his dorm so hard that it broke apart, leaving his left wrist feeling slightly numb.
He stared down at it. It wasn't split in half, but in the middle of it, there was now a crack that seemed almost like a ravine, making some of the items on the desk gather in the middle, the planks functioning like a slide. He sighed as he looked down at the product of his anger, even if he didn't see it completely due to his tears.
That is, until something caught his eyes. One of the boards lifted in such a way that the contents of the drawer became visible. And in that drawer, he noticed an unfamiliar letter. It was folded neatly. He opened the drawer and picked it up, looking at it.
The words 'To : Gonta :p' were written onto the front of the letter. And he knew who wrote it. Of course he did. So he opened it, even more tears finding their way out of his eyes as he did.
'Hey Gonta! What's up? It's me, your favorite supreme leader! If you're reading this, then I'm dead. And that's no lie. I'm not sure whether you'll find this letter in your dorm, or in mine, it depends on how the game continues! If I'm not dead, then you're snooping! Stop reading! ...did you stop? Good!'
It was so unmistakably his. He could almost hear Kokichi's voice read the words out loud.
'Anyway, I wanted to leave this as a goodbye letter I guess! I hope you'll never see it, and I'll throw it away myself. But if you are seeing it, then be sure to destroy the evidence. Wouldn't want my supreme leader reputation to be hurt by being a sap. Anyway, I'll give my true feelings for you in this, that's right! Cool stuff! But it's top secret!
So... Thanks for being a good friend to me. Because you were that, a good friend! I told you it'd get sappy, I hope you brought napkins! Anyway, you're genuinely not a blight to be around, which I can't say about many! You're cool, you're strong, I even kinda like hearing you talk about your gross bugs! That summarizes it pretty well. I kinda like you! This, in fact, is quite— I don't even know. I'm not good at being a sap!
But anyway, if there's an afterlife, and we all go to one place, then trust me, I'll be the first person to say hi when you kick the bucket! (If we don't all go to one place, then I won't, because you'd go to heaven)Although this won't happen anytime soon. You'll definitely make it out of this game, I'm as sure as I'm honest!... Wow, that sounded really bad, scratch that. You get my point!
You're a totally real, true gentleman, everyone who says otherwise is dumb! That's about all I had to say. Well, except for this : I kinda love you. Seriously though, bye now!
- Kokichi'
Even though he didn't intend to, at least not so soon, he started destroying the letter, the words on the page bleeding into each other thanks to his tears.
The next morning, the remaining survivors headed to the dining hall together. Well, except for Gonta, who didn't leave his room with the rest of them. But they all collectively, albeit silently decided not to prod.
However, when they arrived there, they noticed that he was already there. He sat in his usual spot, two plates of breakfast in front of him. One for him, and the other for the empty seat by his side.