Chapter Text
Kokichi walked through the halls alone.
He wasn’t really going anywhere in particular. Just kind of wandering. The back of his neck prickled with the feeling of being watched. A glance back and he had to suppress a sigh. Of course Maki was following him, that space idiot behind her all the way. Whatever, he wasn’t doing anything important. He wouldn’t even try to lose them right now.
To say he was surprised when he came across Tsumugi was an understatement.
“O-oh hey Kokichi.” The Ultimate Cosplayer waved almost nervously.
“Whatcha doin?” Kokichi laced his hands behind him and rocked back and forth on his heels.
“Oh nothing really.” She glanced around.
“You looking for someone?”
Something told him to step away from her. There was a cold ball of apprehension that formed in his gut.
“Yeah...actually…”
Get away. Get away.
“You.”
Faster than he could register, kind of like when Maki choked him out when he revealed who she was, a hand was wrapped around his neck and he was slammed into the wall. The tell tale prick of a knife was pressed against his stomach.
“You’re ruining everything!” Tsumugi growled, “Just who do you think you are?”
“Kokichi!” Kaito, ever the hero, burst from the shadows. The Ultimate Cosplayer growled and grabbed Kokichi by his neck again, lifting him just slightly off the ground. His hands went to claw at the force cutting off his air. He barely registered the knife against his throat, “Tsumugi what the hell are you doing!?”
“Getting rid of a nuisance.” Tsumugi growled.
“Put him down Tsumugi.” Was it just him or was everything getting more muffled? The little leader kicked his feet uselessly, gasping for breath that seemingly wouldn’t come.
“Get any closer and any chance you have of him living flies out the window.” The pressure against his throat increased, cutting off all air. His ears began ringing, his body spasming of its own accord. Half out of desperation and half out of instinct he thrust his elbow into her gut. Tsumugi gasped, releasing her hold on the little leader. Kokichi fell straight to the ground, coughing and sputtering.
“Koki-” Kaito reached forward like he was going to step towards him.
“Run!” He shouted, wincing at the grating feeling in his throat. Tsumugi had already recovered and pressed her foot into the center of his back. So essentially, he was pinned to the floor, “Get out of here!”
“We’re not leaving you!” The Ultimate Astronaut looked horrified at the very idea.
“Yes you are.” Tsumugi reached behind her and pulled out a handgun, training it on the two standing before her. The breath caught in his throat.
“Go! Please!” Kokichi grit his teeth as she placed nearly all her weight onto him. He caught Maki’s eyes, he knew he looked desperate and afraid, “Please...just go…” He said quietly. With reluctance in her expression the Ultimate Assassin grabbed Kaito’s arm and began dragging him away. Unsurprisingly the Ultimate Astronaut protested mightily the entire way. She looked back just once. Long enough for him to mouth ‘thank you’ at her. Then there was a heavy blow to the back of his head, and everything went dark.
----
Something wasn’t right.
Shuichi could just...feel it. It was just like before a body was discovered. That gnawing feeling in his gut that something wasn’t right. He glanced at Kiibo and Himiko to see if either of them felt it. Neither seemed to give any indication.
“Shuichi is something wrong?” Kiibo asked, tilting his head curiously.
“I don’t know.” Shuichi drummed his fingers on the table absently, “I just...I think-” He was cut off by the sound of rapid footsteps and the door to the cafeteria bursting open. Kaito and Maki stumbled into the room, both pale and visibly distraught. (Although the former much more than the latter.)
“Shuichi!” Kaito gasped, clutching at his chest like he’d ran a marathon, “Shuichi we’ve got a problem! A very, very big problem!”
“What? What’s happened?” The detective stood up, dread cementing itself in his stomach.
“Tsumugi she’s-”
“Dead?” Himiko gasped.
“No.” Maki’s expression darkened, “She’s attacked Kokichi.”
“What!?” All three occupants of the room shouted at once.
“Why?” Kiibo’s eyes shown with concern, “Is he okay? Where is he?”
“I don’t know!” Kaito turned to glare down the hallway, “I don’t know….”
They quickly recalled how they’d been following Kokichi as he aimlessly wandered the school. How he came across Tsumugi and how she slammed him against the wall with a knife to his neck. How he looked genuinely surprised and confused, even more so when the two stepped up to defend him. How Tsumugi held his small form by his neck, going so far as to completely cut off his air. How even so he’d managed to elbow her in the gut and fall free. How Kokichi yelled at them to run, to get away from there. How Tsumugi brought out a gun and aimed it at them. And then….
“I’d never seen him look so scared…” Maki wrapped her arms around herself, “..but it didn’t look like he was afraid for himself...more like...he was afraid for us…”
“He was scared that she’d shoot you.” Kiibo frowned.
“That can’t be right.” Himiko shook her head, “Kokichi only cares about himself there’s no way he was scared for you.”
“Oh yeah?” Kaito challenged, “Then why did he tell us to run huh? If he only cared about himself he would have begged us to help him!”
“Kaito has a point Himiko.” Shuichi willed his hands to stop shaking, “What’s the last thing you saw?”
“Tsumugi hitting him in the back of his head, then picking him up. I...didn’t see where she went..” Maki looked down at her shoes, “He….he mouthed ‘thank you’ at me just before she did it.”
Silence fell over the group. Shuichi felt like he wanted to throw up. If what they said was true then...Tsumugi could be the mastermind. They’d all thought it was Kokichi but….what if that was just another one of his lies? But why would he lie about that? That was huge. That could get him killed! That could draw the attention of the real….
The screens flickered to life, Monokuma’s laughter bubbling through the speakers.
“BWAHAHAHAHA Listen up my lovely students! I have an important announcement!” The black and white bear cackled, “You are all to meet in the A/V room in exactly fifteen minutes! You’re in for a special class activity!”
“Special class activity…?” Kiibo wondered aloud.
“It can’t be a coincidence.” Maki growled, “This has to be about Kokichi.”
“Then let’s go.” Shuichi began walking out of the room, not waiting for the others. Unsurprisingly they all followed him pretty much instantly. Once they were outside the A/V room they could see the light of all the screens turned on. One look at what was on them and he felt the blood draining from his face.
It was a grey room, roughly square in shape. There were no discernible doors or windows, it appeared to be an entire box of pure concrete save for the seams were each wall met. The camera angle came from the upper corner of one of these walls. The floor was scratched and scuffed, looking like it hadn’t been properly cleaned in quite some time.
And laying in the middle of it, unmoving, was Kokichi Ouma.